Ask!

[Suriko]

To the character writers: Did you ever have the feeling your characters developed in a way that you did not intend to? Like, 'developing a life on their own'? It's what happens to me frequently when I develop a character over time and imagine more and more scenarios involving him. Occasionally the character ends up extremely different than I intended to (or even would want him to be, to a certain extend), but that's just how the character is, for that matter.

I guess though, the process of iterating the writing over and over again and discussing it in such a big group over and over again makes something like this not as likely, hence the 'I guess I know the answer'.

The romantic and much more interesting answer to that is unfortumately not the one I'd give. I never really felt like any character I wrote had any sort of independence outside of specifically what I thought for them. No surprises, nor mental dialogues with them. That said, this isn't true of every developer. During a discussion between A22 and I, we discovered that we had very different ways of approaching dialogue: I would think about what information needed to be conveyed, possible subjects for banter, and character aspects that should be brought through in any given conversation. A22 on the other hand wrote much more organically, describing his dialogue writing process as being somewhat akin to dictating what the characters were saying to each other in his head.

Who came up with Akira's personality? Did Suriko have any trouble adapting to it?

And for that matter, did any of the writers find it difficult to write for Kenji?

I thought up Akira's personality. She was probably the easiest character for me to write in the game, actually. Being an adult, she was easier for me to empathise with, and she acted both as a voice of reason and as an agent provocateur, making her pretty enjoyable to deal with.

Kenji on the other hand was much harder. I'm pretty sure every instance of him in L and H paths I did ended up passed to A22 for perusal, to check for characterisation and to make the most of his appearances.

Same question, but also by extension, did Lilly return to Hisao on her own before finding out about his latest episode or did she return because of it? I've played through the ending a few times now and still can't quite figure it out. I understand the vagueness might be deliberate, but Suriko did also say that many things were cut/cropped over the years.

It's deliberate.

Hi there!
First off I would like to say that you guys at 4LS have done an amazing job in producing a story that captures the realism and emotion associated with living with a potentially life-changing disability and the path of living life with it.

My first question would have to be...
1. Why were there (or rather why did it seem like there were) a lack of choices during Shizune's path (Excluding the first half of Act 1) compared to the others? Was it just something that slipped by without notice? or were there possible sub-paths cut from the final product?
2. It was never explained, but Why was it that Jigoro and Lilly's father were feuding against each-other? (My guess would be that Jigoro being the conservative type he seems to be, was against Lilly's father marrying a scot, other than that the only other idea would be the corporation that her (lilly) father controls).
3. I'm sorry if the following has been asked multiple times, but How did Rin lose her arms? Was it through an accident storyline like Emi's legs or was it due to something like disease or something at birth?
4. Would there ever be a possibility that Hisao in a last ditch effort to have Lilly stay instead of giving up their relationship and moving, that he could have asked her to marry him? or would that have been to stupid? (Better yet is something like that to even be considered?)
5. What ever happened to the menu music from the Act1 standalone?

I know that this is probably a hefty list of questions, but some of these are so addictive to try and figure out! With possibly more to come.
Thank-you in advance

And just for fun: Was there ever consideration that there would be a choice option Where Hisao heavily questions or offends Jigoro to the point where he pulls out his sword and kills Hisao?

1. It was deliberate, we knew, and no subpaths were cut.

2.

3. The last.

4. They'd known each other for way too short a time to pop the question then.

5. It just got switched out.

Extra: No.

[Rivan]

Less serious :

1) Does Lilly have a preference between red and white wine?

2) Who came up with Lilly dressing into the red cheonsam as far as making the game goes? Was it the artist's or the writer's idea that she would dress that way? She looks positively stunning.

3) Who advised Lilly to buy/wear or who bought the cheongsam for her as far as in-game terms go?

More serious :

Lilly mentions to Akira that her and Hisao were using protection every single time they had sex. Of course, Hisao was surprised, but I wondered - does it extend to their first time as well? Was Lilly far-seeing enough to imagine something like that happening at the summerhouse, or was she on-protection for a longer time, possibly before she even knew Hisao "just-in-case"? Or was it the one time they did not, in fact, use protection?

[Guest]

Less serious :

1) Does Lilly have a preference between red and white wine?

2) Who came up with Lilly dressing into the red cheonsam as far as making the game goes? Was it the artist's or the writer's idea that she would dress that way? She looks positively stunning.

3) Who advised Lilly to buy/wear or who bought the cheongsam for her as far as in-game terms go?

More serious :

Lilly mentions to Akira that her and Hisao were using protection every single time they had sex. Of course, Hisao was surprised, but I wondered - does it extend to their first time as well? Was Lilly far-seeing enough to imagine something like that happening at the summerhouse, or was she on-protection for a longer time, possibly before she even knew Hisao "just-in-case"? Or was it the one time they did not, in fact, use protection?

Maybe Lilly was one of those chicks who goes on the pill for other reasons, as well as the obvious.

[Quitch]

1. I believe Kenji and Shizune meet only once, briefly. She seems to quite like his fiery approach. Do you think this affection would have lasted longer than five minutes? I doubt it, he's too off the wall, but it was interesting to see for a second just how similar they were in the passion they put into whatever they did and how others perceived them as someone to be avoided, for one reason or another.

2. Also, the anon who originally posted the art back in 2007 and started all this (well, triggered the real push to make it happen), who was that? Were they ever involved with the project or did their involvement end with that 4chan thread?

3. Did you consider including an explanation of the Japanese school year, or was it considered unimportant?

4. Lastly, why the upskirt shot of Shizune in the scene where she argues with Lilly? It struck me as at odds with the approach taken during the rest of the game where sex scenes or panty shots were all in the context of the scene.

You mention that you're undecided about including the FMV music in the OST. I really hope you do, the Hanako piece is fantastic.

Awesome job on the game, puts most commercial efforts to shame. I found it all incredibly touching and felt very mournful after it was done, as it should be when you finally come to the end of any great journey with virtual friends, be it in books, movies or games. You've had great times together and now it's over, never to be repeated.

Its made me get off my arse and start doing things I should have done a long time ago. Who knows if that'll be a short-term thing or will really manage to make a difference, but thanks again for making a game that made me feel this way.

[Guest]

Kenji in Lilly's and Shizune's path has that one moment where he seems sensible, like when he worries about Hisao when Hisao is depressed, or pushes Hisao to write back to Iwanako. Is there a specific reason the writers for these paths chose to relieve him of his comic relief role for those scenes, and did the other writers decide to downplay his role in their routes?

[NoGoodUsernamesLeft]

(Where) can I find more work by Juno, the artist that did the music for the Spin and Focus trailers? Searching youtube, google, this forum and the official site's staff list didn't bring up anything. The forum is the only of those four that even verifies his/her existance, so I'm guessing he/she operates under a different name, or has just started.

[GG Crono]

This isn't a question, just something I want to say, and this seems as good a place as any to say it.

Thank you for Katawa Shoujo. All of you. Quite some time ago, a friend of mine mentioned this offhand to me, and told me about a visual novel whose premise sounded like the setup for an exceedingly distasteful joke. And here and now, the punchline to that joke is one of the best stories (or should I say five of the best stories?) I've ever had the pleasure to read. This product really feels like the labor of love that it is. And thank you very much for sharing it with us all.

[Moekki]

4. Lastly, why the upskirt shot of Shizune in the scene where she argues with Lilly? It struck me as at odds with the approach taken during the rest of the game where sex scenes or panty shots were all in the context of the scene.

That CG was pretty silly as a whole

[Aura]

4. Lastly, why the upskirt shot of Shizune in the scene where she argues with Lilly? It struck me as at odds with the approach taken during the rest of the game where sex scenes or panty shots were all in the context of the scene.

That CG was pretty silly as a whole

Plus you are a pervert.

[Quitch]

Was he lying on the floor or something?

4. Lastly, why the upskirt shot of Shizune in the scene where she argues with Lilly? It struck me as at odds with the approach taken during the rest of the game where sex scenes or panty shots were all in the context of the scene.

That CG was pretty silly as a whole

Well, sure, but it was a fun way of showing the conflict. A bit like how the dramatic DEATH! was used when he gets his English results.

[Juno]

(Where) can I find more work by Juno, the artist that did the music for the Spin and Focus trailers?

Hi NoGoodUsernamesLeft. I just don't tend to make music for the pleasure of making music itself, being quite the unimaginative guy I am, or even have any other handles under which I have music stored somewhere in the internet. Sorry!

[Guest]

This is a question for the artists, but it doesn't particularly pertain to the game. I was playing Rin's route, and although it resonated with me the least of the routes, it did make me realize that ever since a kid I wanted to draw.
How did you artists for Katawa Shoujo first start drawing, and was it derivative of anime or was it a more "formal" education style of learning art, and what tips would you give to a person who wants to start?

[NoGoodUsernamesLeft]

(Where) can I find more work by Juno, the artist that did the music for the Spin and Focus trailers?

Hi NoGoodUsernamesLeft. I just don't tend to make music for the pleasure of making music itself, being quite the unimaginative guy I am, or even have any other handles under which I have music stored somewhere in the internet. Sorry!

I see. Well, good work on the trailers anyway!

[Falkentyne]

First off, to all the devs who've poured their blood, sweat, tears, time, love, and RAGE into this project for so, so long: Thank you, and congratulations on a project well done.

As for my questions:

1: I have been nothing but amazed at the soundtrack for this game. Were there any tracks (aside from what got remixed between Act 1 and the full release, anyway) made for the game that never got used?

1b: If so, would those find their way into the planned OST?

2: The songs for the FMV segments... do they have titles, or are they just "Rin's FMV," "Lilly's FMV," etc?

[Pata Hikari]

4. Lastly, why the upskirt shot of Shizune in the scene where she argues with Lilly? It struck me as at odds with the approach taken during the rest of the game where sex scenes or panty shots were all in the context of the scene.

That CG was pretty silly as a whole

Plus you are a pervert.

It all makes sense now.